


Pokemon Scarlet: Trivial Disobedience

by Scarlet_Regnar



Series: Pokemon Scarlet [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pokemon Ranger
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-23
Updated: 2015-02-23
Packaged: 2018-03-14 17:16:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3419003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scarlet_Regnar/pseuds/Scarlet_Regnar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>****Winner of "Most Humorous Fanfic" in the 2013 Pokemon Watty Awards****<br/>Adventure/Game/SC<br/>Scarlet Regnar is a 17-year-old boy studying to be a Pokemon Ranger when he realizes that the authorities on his home island have been hiding the real truth about Pokemon training from his entire generation. Through a combination of censorship, forced seclusion, and outright lies, they have been lead to believe that life as a Ranger is the only possible one for them and any other method of capturing Pokemon would be immoral. But what will happen when Scarlet tries, through Trivial Disobedience, to hear out the other side of the story?</p><p>This book takes place ~2 years after HGSS/DpPL, and ~4 years before the events of BW                                   </p><p>This book is dedicated to USBclip, for being a great friend and inspiration</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: The Shot Heard 'Round the World

****

**[23 Years Before Chapter 1]**

"Get closer, Ben...Yer never gonna get it unless you can see it!"

I stood still, my hands shaking, my grip faltering a bit."

You're a Top Ranger who helped to save two regions yet you can't ..."

"Just give me a sec, Dad!" I snapped while prowling towards a Starly, my target.

"Steady now...shoot!"

I stepped forward, accidentally tripping on a tree branch as I hit the button. It emitted a huge flash, spooking the Starly as I crashed onto the ground."

"Uhhh.....my head..." I cringed as I picked myself up, wiping the dirt off my uniform.

"Boy, if that camera's broke, I'm gonna tan your hide."

"Relax Dad, your one and only darling camera's fine, thanks for asking..."

_I could be hanging out with Cy now, but I have to spend a sweaty afternoon outside with my dad learning how to take a photo...even Lilly can do this without instruction if Dad gave her the chance._

"We'll just have to find another one, seeing you scared this one off."

_What else would I do? Throw apples in its general direction to lure it out again?_

Suddenly, cacophony replaced the quiet which once filled the forest. Everything started to shake and Pokemon scampered and flew away; we fell, soon joined by the trees, exposing their roots. The tremors continued for a few minutes, and then, as suddenly as they began, they stopped. I stood up on one foot, then two, with my dad following suit.

"We better check on Mrs. Jean and make sure she's alright," My dad said as he looked towards her house’s general direction. Mrs. Jean was my godmother, but she acted like a mother to me, especially after my own died a year before. She lived in the woods in an ivy-covered mansion which belonged to her family since before the Ranger Union bought the island fifty years beforehand. Her husband Charles had passed away a year ago and all she had for company was an old Skitty which looked like it could kick the bucket at a moment's notice.

We walked along the rocky dirt path towards her house, when we heard a loud noise off to the right.

_It sounds like someone screaming!_

I started to break out into a full scale run towards the sound, but my dad tackled me into the bushes.

"Hey!"

"Huff...Huff...get...down... There's... councilmen coming!"

The Ranger Council was the governing body for Ranger Island, but at that time it seemed all the Council generated was bad publicity. At that time, the Ranger Council Head─Bracchus Torqueo─didn't charge Facius Malus, our island’s Treasurer, after a recent leak to the media found evidence of him embezzling funds. The reporter was most likely paid off and Torqueo allowed Malus to stay on the board. My dad said that they could get away with anything. I even tried reporting them to the Ranger Union in Almia, as I felt I had some influence, but the Union at that time was still rebuilding after a Team Dim Sun attack a few months before wrecked the Union Center and had limited resources and Rangers to investigate.

After a group of men passed our hiding place, we sneaked closer to the noise, and I caught a glimpse of the jagged dull outcroppings which made up Crystal Cliffs. But, I soon realized the Donphan in the room, the thing that I pegged as different from the many times I had been down the path before. Cy's house, the giant lighthouse on the Crystal Cliffs, once a strong, stone, almost castle-like building, lay in ruins with rubble strewn everywhere, adding more rocks to the beach-like shore below.

"NO!" I began to shout before my dad covered my mouth.

"Shut up, Ben. They'll hear us."

We saw a few councilmen, including Malus, walk up to the ruins, probably searching for the...bodies...of Cy's family.

"NO!" My dad moved to cover my mouth again, but we realized at the same time that it wasn't me shouting. It was Cy. I scaled a nearby tree to get a better look.

"Where are my parents‽" Cy shouted at the men while dragging his baby brother Teken behind him.

"There's no way this is a coincidence..." my dad looked away

I only heard bits and pieces of the conversation, but Cy's expression told it all: distrust, anger, and despair.

"Too young to take care of him..."

"All I have left of them...please!"

"Pyrite, take him."

An officer, probably from the mainland, walked and snatched Teken from Cy.

"PLEASE! He's my only family left!"

"I'm going to do something!" I said, prepared to jump down.

"Don't be stupid, we need to go!" my dad grumbled before walking back into the woods.

_No, dad. You've hurt me too much and told me to be brave and just, yet you're the one without a backbone. Time to eat your words, old man..._

I held up the camera to my eye.

_Perfect..._

"SNAP!!"

The officer glanced my way, so I quickly slithered down the tree, holding the camera.

_When I get this to the papers...there's no way Malus or any other corrupt Ranger will be able to stand a chance._

Little did I then know of the impending consequences snapping that single picture would cause.


	2. A Trail To Blaze

__

_"_ _You know how in grade school, they would let the little kids take a nap halfway through the day? I liked that idea, but always thought they should have saved the nap time for the older kids. We were the ones that always actually needed a nap",_  I thought as I laid my head on my desk, trying to rest a bit before third period.

It seemed like everyone was groggy in the mornings, myself included. Most of the students, myself included, stayed up till eleven each night doing schoolwork, as we knew success in the real world depended upon grades. I, like many others, worked hard in school so that I could make my parents happy, besides the fact that I'm, as my mom says, "intellectually gifted." For a gift, it was a double-edged sword, as I tended to space out a lot thinking about stuff, to the chagrin of my mother.

I glanced over at my friend Vera using her special art pencils for sketching a Pidgey outside in a tree. She captured its likeness perfectly. Ever since I met her in Kindergarten, she's always had a sketchbook in hand, eager to draw her worldview.

 "That looks nice," I said quietly in my usual monotone-with-a-shot-οf-enthusiasm. It's not that I didn't care or was not impressed, but people around me at that time seemed to drip with emotion, which made me pull into my shell.

"Thanks, Scarlet," Vera turned the drawing so that I could see it better. She, like me, tended to block the world out, because most of the time what was going on didn't matter much anyway- mostly hormonal seventeen-year-olds in various states of eating, sleeping, or laughing.

"You should really consider art school when you get out of Ranger Training," I smiled while looking at the Pidgey outside. This year, when we decided what branch of the Ranger Union that I would go into, I chose Ranger in an instant. I was an inside person early on in my childhood, and my Dad, still a Ranger at that time, took me on a Ranger Quest in the forest. I found a fascination for Pokemon and their environments, and I knew signing up that I wanted to be in the field, not repairing Stylers like Mechanics or acting as a GPS like Operators.

"I would...but you understand, being a Ranger runs in the family." She brushed her bangs back and sighed, gazing at the Pidgey. 

Our families were Rangers for generations. My grandpa, Kody Regnar, was a Ranger, and so was my dad, Benjamin Kellyn-Lunnick Regnar (Apparently my grandpa had a bunch of male relatives to appease). My mom, Summer, was also a Ranger, and so, per the socio-economic cycle's prediction, would I. At that point, most of us Students had no clue what we wanted to do with my life, but if one didn't train to be a Ranger, he or she wouldn't fit into our community well.

"ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!"

We glanced at the row in front of me and I saw my cousin Tyler fast asleep with his head on his knapsack, like how I was earlier.

"We should probably wake Tyler up so Mrs. Captia's first impression of my boyfriend isn't a snoring, drooling idiot," Vera giggled, folding the cover back over her sketchbook.

_I thought that was everyone's impression of him..._

It seemed that at that time, the old wives must have been telling the truth after all, because after our trio's friendship of ten years, Vera and Tyler, the two poles used to measure polar opposites, attracted out of the blue that January. As for myself, I didn't have time for relationships. For one, most of the girls I knew were too extroverted and egocentric to pay any attention to me. The one time I had a serious crush was the year before. I was so nervous about her rejecting me or causing things to get weird that I delayed asking her for almost a year. But by the time I finally worked up the courage, someone else wooed her.

Now I played the role of the "supportive friend/third wheel" to Vera, the girl I admired, and Tyler, the guy who unwittingly stole her away. Then, I didn't  even hope that I had any chance. They were already together for two months and there were only four months until us Students  were to graduate. Even if someone stationed us in the same Region and at or near the same station, we would be randomly assigned partners until we advanced in rank and our superiors would assign us missions far away from each other. That was even if they were to have broken up then, which at the time did not look likely.

All I wanted then was for things to be like they were two years before, where we all were just friends and nothing felt awkward. But that was naive of me to hope for even a breakup would leave our friendship shattered like a broken window, unsalvageable.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a kid placing an apple on Mrs. Captia's desk and I internally  snarled at the back of the kid's head with disgust.

_Brown-noser... But then again it might behoove one to brown-nose her according to the rumors._

We had only heard lore of Mrs. Captia from the occasional visiting alumni, as she only teaches second semester Ranger Studies for the upperclassmen, as opposed to our completed first semester Pokemon Studies course taught by the wonderful Mrs. Whipkey. Most reports told that Mrs. Captia was super strict towards kids from more notable parentage, though I wasn't worried as I, along with Vera, tended to be the student that teachers liked because the other ones were insane in comparison.

 "Wake up Tyler!" Vera shouted, poking his back with the eraser end of her pencil.

_If you really wanted him up, just use the other end..._

"Uhhhggg...gimmfivemurminutes," Tyler mumbled and brushed the air with his hand.

"But Mrs. Captia's right outside!" I joked, feigning alarm.

"What‽" He shot up. Upon seeing a few students, including Vera and I, bursting into laughter, he flushed red.

"Can't you let a guy sleep‽" Tyler raged, clenching his teeth.

_That's your problem if you didn't get enough sleep! Though I'm kinda being hypocritical here...._

"So what were you guys talking about before I was so rudely awakened?" Tyler folded his arms.

"Scarlet was admiring my sketches."

"Oh, that reminds me, Vera, later, I have to show you the perfect spot for that sunset sketch assignment," I told her, tapping her sketchbook.

"Oooh...I hope its perfect! My sketch is due tomorrow for Art."

"Yeah, its secluded and quiet. No one else will be there but you and m-"

"I'll come along too...we can make a date of it." Tyler chimed in.

"Well, it won't be much of a date-worthy environment, she'll be sketching most of the time..."

"It's fine, you can come, Tyler." Vera relented, her eyes met mine for a minute.

  _Why do you let him push you around like that?_

"Yeah, anyway," Tyler waved his hand, "this class is going to be totally stupid? We have to learn stuff like using Capture Stylers but the they don't want out parents teaching us. Take my Dad for example. He served in Fiore and Almia, yet the school board says the school should teach us how to capture."

"You'd think a Top Ranger who went on missions to Fiore, Almia, and Oblivia would know how to  you'd  think he knows how to teach me how to capture," I said curtly.

We talked until the tardy bell rang, and Mrs. Captia strutted in wearing her high heels.

"Hello class, my name is Portia Captia, and I will be your Ranger Studies Teacher. Let me just call role real quick."

She picked up her wide-rimmed glasses from their chain around her neck and  looked down her role, as if she was looking for someone specific.

"Scarlet Regnar?"

I rose my hand and her eyes scrutinized me for a moment.

"Tyler Malia?" and "Vera Riofe?" soon followed, along with the rest of the class in alphabetical order without us three.

_Maybe the rumors are true..._

"Scarlet, Tyler, please pass out the new textbooks on the counter to the rest of your class."

Keep _calm. You don't want to add fuel to the fire._

We passed out the new textbooks to everyone. Once I finished, I took my seat and started to flip through it along with the class.

_Wait a minute! Someone cut whole chapters out of my textbook._

I noticed a piece of Iventa chapter, but all you could see was a scrap with IVE on it. The only chapters not torn out were those about Fiore, Almia, Oblivia, and Ranger Island, but flipping through the table of contents showed that Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Orre, Sinnoh, and Unova were also once part of the book.

I rose my hand again.

"Now please r-...Yes, Scarlet?"

"I think someone tore most of the pages out of my book. Is there another that I can use?"

She pursed her lips, "No, Scarlet, everyone's has pages removed. That textbook contained material that the Council considered unsuitable for you to read."

"Unsuitable to read? What do you mean?"

She looked over the rims of her glasses and sighed.

"Do you know why we don't allow t-shirts with beer or drugs on them at school?"

"Yeah, to keep it from becoming fashionable."

"Exactly, and we are trying to keep the students from some of the unsavory ideas proposed in other chapters." _._

"Like what? What could be so unsavory in an Atlas?"

Mrs. Captia's face flushed red like Tyler's from earlier as she started to pace the front of the room.

"Some people, instead of using Pokémon for good, steal them out of their natural habitats, keeping them in suspended animation for weeks before using them to cockfight for cash. This is highly addictive, and the school board wants to raise you to believe that Pokémon are our friends, not our money-making devices."

_Do people really use Pokemon to cockfight? If that's true...then maybe this is warranted. But it does seem a bit extreme..._

I sat quietly through the rest of class and I reluctantly took notes as she explained the usage of our new equipment, such as our School Styler. But I am still willing to bet that everyone already knew this, even if they had never captured before. Most people were doodling and/or staring into space.

She dismissed the class at the bell and we all rushed out gripping our bookbags. I pushed past some of my peers andf and caught up with Vera and Tyler.

"Told you she hates us," Tyler whispered.

"I don't think she hates us," Vera responded, "She, in theory, has a good reason to watch the people who in her mind might try to use their parents as excuses to be obstructive."

"Watch..! Vera, You got to draw in your precious notebook while you watched Scarlet and I drag those heavy boxes of books around!" Tyler retorted,"Let's see what you say after you've busted your a-"

"Speaking of drawing," I interrupted, " make sure you meet me at our treehouse after dinner. 

"We'll be there," Tyler avowed, moving slightly forward towards me.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Tyler asked as we blazed our way through the woods.

"Yes, I've been here before, and you know that I know this island inside and out," I responded, pushing a renegade branch aside.

"You don't know the Crystal Cliffs inside and out," Tyler retorted before he got hit by the branch, "Oww! Watch it!"

_Serves you right..._

"Between that spooky old Ratone mansion and the wire fence across that portion of the island, I would say no one, much less you, knows the whole story of the Crystal Cliffs."

I quickly changed the subject.

"Here we are!"

We broke through the trees into a serene and secluded cove, with sand as fine as sugar and water so blue one could nearly see the bottom. Wingull surfed on the updrafts and Lapras hung out a few yards from shore.

"This is perfect...Vera gasped.

Vera set up her camera on a tripod and started to snap reference pictures for her paintings. Tyler and I laid down on a large, smooth rock near Vera and I took off my shoes and dangled my feet in the water while I looked at my new Styler's functions.

" _THIS IS THE VOICE NAVIGATION UNIT FOR...SCARLET REGNAR...'S STUDENT STYLER_ ," it bleeped in a highly automated voice. This caused a Wingull which Vera was photographing to fly away, followed by a playfully dirty look from Vera and a dirtier glare from Tyler. I reluctantly turned it off and instead looked at the sea, noticing the slight bubbling of the Water Barrier.

Ranger Island had its own mini tectonic plate which slightly diverged, causing heated gasses to be released. Besides being the top theory at the time for the cause of the tremors, this caused the water to be less dense; as a result most Pokémon couldn't easily swim through it. This also caused hot, fast air currents to act like a dome, keeping the majority of the bird Pokémon on the island. Only strong boats, like the ferry to Type Island, could sail through it.

I watched the sun slowly set, when I caught sight of something out of place near the horizon. I stood up and rustled my binoculars out of my pack.

"Hmm..."

"What is it?" Tyler asked.

I focused the lenses and scanned the horizon. I found the rock halfway submerged in the ocean with something on it. I focused even more before I saw it.

"What‽" I heard my binoculars shatter against the rock. I could feel Vera and Tyler snap their heads up at me..

"What is it‽ What do you see‽ " Tyler yelled, rising to his feet.

"A man," I sputtered.


	3. House on the Sand / House on the Rock

"What's a man doing out there‽" Vera asked.

"We need to get help!" Tyler shouted as he ran towards the direction of town.

"Stop!" I shouted at Tyler, "High tide's coming in; he would drown before even I could get back here".

"Then how are we going to help him‽ It's too dangerous to swim out there, much less drag an injured or unconscious person back to shore!" Tyler challenged.

I glanced rapidly around until my eyes settled onto the Lapras near the shore.

_Bingo!_

"Scarlet! You seriously think you can capture when we have just gotten Stylers‽" Tyler shouted as I kept on running.

"I've seen my dad do it hundreds of times; I can handle this!"

I heard them shouting after me, but I blocked it out. When I reached the shore, I turned on my Styler. I shot the activated capture disk out towards one of the Lapras and started to rotate the resulting beam of light in circles. 

The Lapras tried to move around, but I kept with it, frantically moving the Styler in circles while I watched the friendship meter on my Styler fill up. After a few more revolutions, a sphere of yellowish light formed around Lapras.

" _CAPTURE COMPLETE,_ " bleeped the Styler as I hopped on Lapras' back.

"LAPRAS _..R-058...WATER/ICE TYPE...FIELD ABILITY: WATER 1...POKEASSIST: NONE_."

"Quick, Lapras, ride to that rock! There's a person drowning!"

 When Lapras reached the tide-overtaken rock, I grabbed the man and the bag he was holding and dragged them onto Lapras' back. We sailed hastily back to shore.

"We'll reach town faster if we use Lapras," I said.

Tyler and Vera jumped on, and we sailed off.

"That was quick, by the way; You sure you've never captured before?" Vera asked, holding on to Lapras' pointy back.

"Yeah...Must be in my blood or something." I grinned.

I then saw man's face; he was about my dad's age and had a beard and head of dark, crescent moon-shaped auburn hair, with a thick, boxy mustache. He wore a wet checkered shirt and soaked khakis with one brown leather dress shoe.

_No one dresses like this on Ranger Island, everyone for the most part wears a version of a uniform based on their occupation...Who is this guy?_

I refocused on navigating, but it turned out the beach was only about a half a mile from town by water. We reached my own mini-dock which I once used for diving and I leaped onto it, hands outstretched, as we lifted the man onto the dock and allowed for Vera and Tyler to climb up.

"Thanks, Lapras! You can go now." I released Lapras with a button on my Styler and it started off towards the direction of the beach.

I ran into my house, shouting, "Dad!"

My dad ran out of his study, flustered.  My dad was really busy then, even in the evenings, always working in his study because of his job as Head of Telecommunications, being the arbiter of what gets allowed past the community's firewalls and onto TV, radio, and the internet. I always felt guilty, as both he and my mom gave up exciting jobs as Rangers to stay home with me.

"Scarlet, what's the matter‽"

"Dad, we found an unconscious man who was drowning. He needs CPR!"

I dashed out the door and he followed me. I heard him gasp as we approached the unconscious man.

_Does Dad know him?_

Dad started performing CPR on the guy and we dashed into the house to prepare a place to lay him down.

"No! You can't do this to me...You have to breathe!" I heard my dad plead.


	4. Cat out of the Bag

Dad was able to revive our unconscious mystery man, whom he laid on the couch in his study.

"Let's let him get some rest," my dad said before he shooed us out and bolted the door.

"Great," complained Tyler,"Now we won't be able to figure out who he is."

"In the meantime, let's dry off the stuff in the guy's knapsack; It's still soaking wet," said Vera.

We went up to the bathroom and gathered all the hair dryers in the house. I unzipped the guy's knapsack, accidentally spilling six red and white orbs onto the floor. One released a purple cat-like Pokémon that I've never seen before. I snatched the orb and pressed a button on the front of it, which made the Pokémon disappear.

"What in the world was THAT‽" Tyler rose from the floor where he had fallen in shock.

"Shh!!" Vera hushed. 

"-ey Cyk- ure fin-... up"

"Don't you know what shushing means‽" Vera asked.

"That wasn't me!" Tyler whisper-shouted.

I ran over to the air vent, "I hear the guy! This air vent runs to my dad's study."

We all leaned in and listened to their conversation.

"It's just too dangerous Cy," I heard my dad say, "I want to help, you know I do, but this will be very bad if we get caught. You know what happened to your father... to my father..."

_My dad mentioned Grandpa! Dad hates to talk about Grandpa..._

"Ben, it is risky, but the payoff is worth it. We'll expose Malus for who he really is: a scoundrel!"

_This Cy guy mentioned Facius Malus, the head of the Ranger Council. How is he connected? And the Cy guy called my dad Ben...do they know each other after all?_

"I don't want to risk our lives and our families' lives. Besides, I couldn't morally do this," I heard Dad say.

"What do you think I've been studying for all these years? Besides, if you won't do this for me, do this for your family. Do you want to have that man leading them?"

"If Summer found out, she would..."

"You're married to Summer?" I heard Cy ask, deadpanned.

"I'm sorry Cy...you weren't there and I tried to help her cope but she turned to me to pick up the pieces. Besides, you're alive because of my son."

"Hmm...You have a son?" I heard Cy inquire.

"Yes, Scarlet, he's seventeen. He rescued you from the sea when you tried to cross the Water Barrier."

"Interesting...I'll have to thank him. So, are you in, Ben?"

"...Yes...and I'll help you get across the barrier in the morning," my dad sighed.

_Wait...How can he get across the barrier...It's supposed to be impossi..._

I heard a knock on the door as mom walked in.

"Vera, Tyler, that was your parents on the phone... What are you doing next to the air vent?" My mom squinted.

Tyler hastily answered," We...uh...got wet, so we were drying off our clothes."

 "Fill us in tomorrow," Vera whispered.

They both said goodbye and headed downstairs with my mom. I put on my pajamas and got into bed with an Agatha Christie novel.

" _I need to stay awake because no doubt Dad's going to sneak Cy out in the wee hours_ ".

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

 I heard movement downstairs and I drowsily looked at the clock.

_Ugg...3:30...I've been up for almost twenty-four hours now..._

I quietly stumbled downstairs (well...as quite as stumbling could be) with Cy's knapsack. Dad looked like Mom caught him eating cake on his low-carb diet.

"Scarlet, Go back to bed, it's three in the morning," Dad said.

"But I have Cy's stuff," I persisted, handing the bag to Cyke. He felt around inside and then closed it.

"Well, I don't believe we have been acquainted," He stuck out his hand, "A pleasure to meet you, Scarlet, I am Cyke Olagy.

As I shook his hand, he passed one of the orbs that were in his bag into my other hand. He gave me a look that says,"Don't tell your father!"

My father looked over both his shoulders,"Come on Cy, I'll help you get back to the beach."

Cyke smirked," Ben... I know this island like the back of my hand...but I would like the company."

He and dad quickly walked out the door, with Cyke staring at me until he was out of sight.

I went back to bed, but I constantly examined the orb, which enlarged to the size of a baseball when I opened my hand, but shrunk when I closed it. The button didn't  do anything, but I assumed that was due to the lack of Pokemon.

_What in the world did Cyke give me?_

It was almost four then, but I still got into bed.

_Might as well get an hour of sleep before I try to find out what this is tomorrow._


	5. Destroy Books, Destroy Reason

"Let me down, guys!" Vera shouted.

We bent down and brought Vera back to the ground. We were looking in the dusty,boarded-up windows of the Ranger Island Public Library, trying to see if someone was in there.

"No one's in there," Vera reported, wiping the dust off her hands.

I sighed as I leaned with one hand on the wall,"The library was out best bet of finding information without showing the orb to people, but it looks like no one has been in there for years."

"Who ran the library anyway?" Vera asked.

"Some lady named Jean," I said as we walked towards home. "I remember her from when my mom got picture books for me".

"Hey! Maybe your mom knows." Vera suggested.

"Good idea. I'm gonna go run and ask her real quick. Wait right here."

\-----------------------------------------------------

I walked into the Ranger Council Building, where I saw my mom sitting at her desk typing away. She did a lot of paperwork for the school board and for the council as secretary.

"Hey Scarlet, what do you need?" she asked as she kept on typing.

"Do you know who runs the library and where we can find her?" I responded, "We need to do some research for a school project.."

"Did you check the school library? Because all the approved reading from the old public library was moved there after it was shut down."

"Shut down?" 

"Yes, when Malus was elected, the Council agreed to get rid of the majority of books that only talked about "unsavory ideas" which conflicted with Ranger philosophy and got rid of the rest. There weren't many books left, so they bought more and moved them to the school's library. If you need to talk to her, she lives in the woods near here in Ratone Mansion."

_Oh....the Rat Hole..._

"Anything else, Scarlet?"

"Nope...thanks, mom."

"Oh! Can you bring me a case of water bottles from home? The stupid Terra Nova maintenance people still haven't fixed the pipes after three weeks and this side of town still has an unreliable water supply. I'm going to have a strong word with whoever hired them."

"I'll be sure to get it; See you later mom."

"You too, honey."

\---------------------

"So.....?" Tyler asked when I returned.

"Apparently Mrs. Jean lives in the Ratone Mansion."

"You mean the Rat Hole? Why do you think an old Skitty lady has the answers you're looking for?"

"It's just a hunch...anyway, I have to go get water for my mom. You guys on for six to enter the haunted mansion?"

Vera and Tyler glanced at each other.

"Um...we'd like to go, but we kinda have something else..." Vera rubbed her arm and glanced away.

"Yeah, for only the two of us..." Tyler emphasized

_I got the message, Tyler. You don't want me tagging along and ruining your epic romance._

"Ok...I'll go tonight anyway. I'll tell you guys on Monday what I found.

They both walked away, but Vera looked back at me as if to say,"Sometimes I want to knock his block off..."

_I do too sometimes, Vera. I do too._

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey, where are you going?" A foreman barked as I attempted to walk down the path into the woods. The front of his yellow construction jacket had a red TN on the front, with the first vertical bar of the N on top of that of the T. 

"I'm going to Jean Ratone's house down the road; Is that a problem?"

"Yeah, we've dug up the pipes to her house and a few other buildings down this road, and so there isn't that much left of a path."

"Ok...I'll go through the woods then."

"But..."

"Dude, I can handle it."

"Fine... but I'm not liable for anything that happens to you."

"That's fine with me. By the way, when are these pipes going to be fixed?"

"Soon, real soon."

_So you don't know...._

"People are complaining, just to let you know."

I walked off to the left of the path and trekked through the woods, walking on a blanket of pine needles.

Eventually, I arrived at the Ratone Mansion alone. One could see why kids were scared of this place; it looked like it was dropped onto Ranger Island from a horror movie set. Old gray oak trees and rusty black fences surrounded her property, and she even had a view of Crystal Cliffs.

_I'm not scared...I just want to find more about the orb_

I opened the rusty gate and walked down a gravel walkway. Murkrow cawed at me as I stepped up onto the creaky and dry-rotted wooden steps. I gripped the old iron knocker and knocked, and after a moment  the door was opened by a very old woman, probably in her late 80's. 

"Ahh!..You!...No, you're not him... Uhh...I'm sorry, but I don't want any of your Skinny Mints, they give me indigestion," the woman slammed the door in my face.

I knocked on the door again, and she opened it.

"Look sonny, I already support the Ranger Scouts directly..."

"Ma'am," I said calmly, "I'm not with the Ranger Scouts and I don't want to sell you cookies. I want to talk to Jean Ratone, the former librarian."

"That is I," Mrs. Ratone said.

"I wanted to know if you could identify an object I found." I showed her the orb and her irises grew to the size of marbles.

"I haven't seen those in years...You better come inside."

\-------------------------------------

I followed her into her extremely dark and cluttered house. A dusty and cobweb-infested chandelier swung slightly in the main hallway as I almost tripped over a cat's water dish by the door with "Mr. Snookums" written on it. But, as the brown sludge which inhabited the bottom of the bowl suggested, the cat had long ago kicked the bucket.

"You head upstairs and take your first left to the library. I'll be up with some tea."

"Oh, you don't need to..."

"It's no trouble."

"Well, at least let me carry it upstairs," I said.

As she walked into the kitchen to fix the tea, I took a gander at old black and white photos on a carved old wooden table. One looked like her wedding photo as she was in her twenties standing next to a guy in an old tuxedo; another was her in her forties holding a baby; a third was her standing next to a young boy in a rudimentary Ranger uniform, but the weird thing is, that kid looked a lot like me.

"Mrs. Ratone?" I called.

"Yes, dear?" She responded when I heard her pulling tap water.

"Who's the kid in the picture our here?"

After a pause, she replied, "That's my godson, Benny."

"Is he Benjamin Regnar, by chance?"

Another pause. I could hear the steam from the kettle whistling.

"Yes..."

"Mrs. Ratone, I'm not quite sure if you remember me, but I'm Scarlet Regnar, Ben and Summer's son."

I heard another pause before she spoke again, "I thought you looked like him, his hair especially...and you have your mother's hazel eyes."

She poked her head out of the kitchen with a tray of tea and those gross jam-centered cookies which looked like they came with the house. I gingerly grabbed hold of it and carried it up the magazine-cluttered stairs and into the library. 

I sat in the armchair across from her which spews a ton of dust.

"Sorry Scarlet, that chair hasn't been sat in since Charles died. I don't get a lot of visitors...As I was saying, what you've got there is a Pokéball".

"A Pokéball?" I ask. "So is this what the cockfighters use to enslave Pokémon?"

"Cockfighters? Who told you that?" Mrs. Ratone asked.

"My teacher, Mrs. Captia," I replied.

"Well, she's been telling you a heap of baloney. There are always exceptions, but most trainers do not try to inflict violent injuries on their opponent's Pokémon."

_Why did Mrs. Captia lie?..._

I sat forward in my seat, which unleashed another cloud of dust. "Ok, so what do these so-called Pokéballs do and why have they been telling us false information?"

"You could compare a Pokéball in function to your capture slider, but a Pokémon Trainer uses a Pokéball to contain and transport Pokémon. As for the censorship, the reason most people off Ranger Island believe is that the government wants to keep outside ideas and ideals, good or bad, from influencing Student Rangers."

"So all the adults I know have basically been lying to me," I concluded with a hint of anger. I saw her eyes moisten.

"Yes.... It has to do with an accident almost twenty years ago... I'd rather not talk about it." She wiped her eyes with a handkerchief and changed the subject.

_I better remind myself to ask around about that accident_

"Where did you get this Pokéball anyway, your father?"

"Why would my father have a Pokéball?" I inquired, puzzled.

Mrs. Ratone looked at me, "You mean you didn't know Benny was once a trainer?"

I shook my head.

_So now there are at least two secrets that by people I trusted kept from me._

"Well, to give you the short version, Benny was a rebellious type, he died his hair blue and he dreamed of training Pokémon. His father crushed those dreams, sending him off to Fiore to become a Ranger. He grew a liking towards being a Ranger and went to school in Almia where his parents had moved. But your Grandmother's death in childbirth tainted Almia as your grandfather moved back here, and your father left on a mission to Oblivia after your grandfather......" She reached for a tissue.

"Why haven't I ever met you before? My dad or mom have never mentioned you..."

Her face went through a range of emotions: shock, pain, anger, back to shock, and finally deceptive happiness.

"Enough of my rambling...One of these books probably has the answer to some of your questions. I saved the ones from the library that the Council was going to dispose of entirely." She wiped her eyes and tossed the tissue in the trashcan.

_That was a perfectly good segue...not...Something's going on here...she gets all defensive when I start asking about her and my family._

I stood up and scanned the shelves. I was drawn to an older edition of the textbook we used in school, so I opened it, only to have all the pages come loose.

"Oh! I'm so sorry Mrs. Ratone; I'll pay you whatever you want to repair it," I apologized.

"No, it was an old book, and you were giving it more use than it's had just sitting on a shelf. It's a pity I don't have newer books..."

Mrs. Ratone suddenly stood up (as suddenly as an octogenarian can stand), and walked over to a bookcase. She removed a couple books covering a small safe and unlocked it with a key on a chain around her neck. She took out something plastic and the size of a business card that hung on a lanyard. She showed it to me.

"Do you know what this is?"

I shook my head no.

"This is a Student Ranger pass. When the library was still open, I got permission for a Student Ranger Intern of mine to go to Type Island and bring back shipments of books. Malus did a lot of things when he came to power, but he didn't do a great job of updating the list. No one checks the list of who uses what cards, so this pass will allow you to take the ferry to Type Island which has a brand new library."

"Why are you giving this to me? You just met me!"

"Because I fully support teaching of the Trainer lifestyle. Besides, if Benny had become a Trainer, then he wouldn't have...." She cut herself off again.

"What did my father do?" I asked point blank.

"Uh...look at the time! You probably will want to get home so you don't break your curfew."

I glanced at my watch.  _8:30 pm... Even two-year-olds are still up this time of night._

"You're right. I'll come visit again soon, Mrs. Ratone!" I played along.

"Please do, honey. my door's always open"

\------------------------------------------------------

As I walked home, questions kept surfacing in my mind:

_Why does the island want to so thoroughly want to censor a Pokéball?_

_Why did Cyke give this Pokéball to me in the first place?_

_But more importantly,what is this big secret everyone keeps dancing around?_


	6. A Bird in the Hand...

 I had wanted to use Mrs. Ratone's ferry pass that day, which I decided to keep between her and I for now, but Sunday was already filled in due to chores. Besides, I wanted to catch a Pokemon before I headed off to Type Island.

\---------------------------------------------------------

"The reason I'm holding class outside today is because I believe that experience helps students learn better than bookwork," Mrs. Captia announced to us as we gathered around her near the woods behind the school.

_Now that's something we can agree on... I hope I never have to see that stupid textbook ever again._

"Now...I know that some of you, although you aren't technically supposed to, have learned how to capture Pokemon using a Styler. Those that have will start on your assignment for today while I explain the fundamentals to those that have not."

_Yes...finally I can move at my own pace!_

"I want you to use the Styler to capture a Pokemon and bring it back. You have thirty minutes to do so."

I walked into the woods and carefully opened my knapsack  as Dad's partner, Pichu, hopped onto my shoulder. Dad had brought him back from his big mission in Oblivia, and he had been with us ever since, along with his little blue ukulele.

"Sorry about that, Pichu. I just don't think Mrs. Captia wants me to advance too quickly.

"Piiiiiichu!" Ukulele Pichu said while he strummed his ukulele.

"Now, let's catch us our first Pokemon..."

\--------------------------------

I walked through the shady woods for a while until I heard scuffling. A small blue bird Pokemon with a fluffy white plumage was perched in a tree above me."

_I think a Rufflet will do just fine; Here goes nothing!_

"Go Pichu!"

Pichu jumped off my back towards the Rufflet,  who looked like it would say, "You messin' with me, pipsqueak?"

"Ummm...." I muttered to myself, as I thought back to some of my dad's lessons on Poke-Assists

"Pichu, use ThunderShock!" I commanded.

Pichu strummed its ukulele and fired a tiny bolt of electricity at the Rufflet, who, taken aback, fell out of the tree.

"Finish it with Thunder!" I shouted, and Pichu released a strong mighty bolt at the disoriented Rufflet, paralyzing it.

I pressed the button on the center of the Pokeball, but nothing happened.

_This worked last night!_

"Aaahhh!" I shouted, frustrated, and I threw the Pokéball, and it hit Rufflet, sucking it up. It wobbled a bit, then went still and clicked.

_Wow...that was easy..._

I picked it up and pressed the center button, which beamed out a light and Rufflet appeared, turning its head slightly.

"Hey Rufflet...I'm Scarlet, and this is Pichu."

 Rufflet narrowed his eyes and looked at Pichu.

"Don't worry, he's not mine," I laughed, "Rufflet, you're my first Pokemon, which is pretty special. But as soon as I can get supplies, I'm gonna get you some more friends."

"Rrruflet Ruflet!" Rufflet crowed proudly.

"Attention Rangers, you have ten minutes left." our PokeNav blares.

_Crap...I'm already five minutes out. I need to find a Pokemon to show Mrs. Captia...because we'll probably have to release the Pokemon at the end of the week..._

"Oww!" I yelled, feeling a tiny shock.

"Pichu, what was that for?"

"Pi-chuuuuuuu?" Pichu said quizzically.

"If it wasn't you or Rufflet, then what..."

I looked down at my leg and I saw a tiny yellow arachnid.

"Jolt jolt tik"

_Darn...I wish Cyke gave me a six pack of Pokeballs._

"Hey, Rufflet, can you give me some help?"

Rufflet blew the Joltik off my leg and left it dazed and confused; I broke out my School Styler.

_Guess this will have to do for now..._

I swung the beam of light which the Capture Disk followed, making neat, small, and quick circles around the Joltik until a ball of light formed around it.

" _CAPTURE COMPLETE_ ," The automated message bleeped. I quickly pointed my Styler towards Rufflet.

_Please work...Dad said this worked when he pranked people years ago..._

"RUFFLET _..R-XXX...FLYING TYPE...FIELD ABILITY: SLASH 1...POKEASSIST: NONE_."

_Hmm...Looks like Stylers are a bit less high-tech than I thought._

"Sweet! Hey Joltik, want some electricity?"

"Jooooolllll.." Joltik sounded, salivating.

"Here..."

I gently picked it up and placed it on my shoulder.

"Hold on, and in thirty minutes, I'll get you some electricity."

I started to run back, with Joltik on my shoulder, Rufflet flying beside me, and Pichu on top of my knapsack, trying to keep Joltik away from it's electric sacks.

\-----------------------------------

"Scarlet, what did you capture today?" Mrs. Captia asked, clipboard in hand.

"Rufflet!" I whistled while I felt Joltik rummaging around in my backpack.

_Hang in there, little guy..._

"Ruff!" Rufflet swooped down and landed on my arm.

"Nice job, Scarlet; Don't release him yet, he will act as your Pokemon for the rest of the year.

Mrs. Captia went to greet another person coming out of the forest.

I looked over at Vera.

"You captured a Smeargle‽"

"Yep. I started to draw when I couldn't find any Pokemon, and he walked right up to me." Vera laughed.

I leaned in close. "Bring it to the treehouse after school. I have something I want to show you.Make sure you're alone."

"Hey!"

We glance up at Tyler, standing over us.

"Hey...." I said.

_This does not look good..._

"So, what did you capture, Tyler?" Vera asked.

_Nice save, but will he fall for it?_

"I caught a Caterpie."

"Nice to know...any time I need an entry for a bug contest, I'll ask you," I retorted.

"You're such a comedian..." Tyler grumbled.

\-------------------------------------  
"Can anyone tell me what Poke Assists are?" Mrs. Captia asked, now that we were inside.

I rose my hand.

"Yes, Scarlet?"

"Poke Assists are when you use a Pokemon's assist move to help capture a Pokemon. For example, using a Pichu to electrocute a Flying type, like Rufflet."

"Correct. So, how many times can you use a Poke Assist or a Field Move with a Friend Pokemon."

"In theory, as much as desired," I responded, feeling a bit foxy.

"Give me the general answer, please."

"Ranger Code says one-time use of all Friend Pokemon."

"Correct."

 "But why is that?" I asked.

"It's been the tradition for years."

"But why? Wouldn't it make more sense to use the Pokemon more?"

"I guess we want to keep Pokemon Rangers from abusing the resources..."

"But will Rangers do that?"

"Scarlet, get to the point... What's your explanation, then?"

"It's because they want Rangers to not develop bonds with Pokemon."

"No offence, Scarlet, but that's kind of ludicrous."

"But it makes perfect sense. If you capture a Pokemon to rescue a person from drowning, why does the Pokemon let you? Surely it does not, like how you teach us, base its decision primarily on friendship. No, it's based on the urgency of the situation and an appeal to the Pokemon's morality. In essence, the single partner frees the Ranger from forming bonds and having to take care of five or six Pokemon for any length of time."

"Nicely argued, but aren't you forgetting the bonds we make with the partner Pokemon?"

"Fine. You get to bond with one Pokemon, but if you have to change regions, you have to leave it behind. Also, ascending to Top Ranger means that you travel all over the world, yet cannot bring any of those Pokemon back. So what separates us using Pokemon to do Target Clears, Field Moves, and Poke Assists from those Pokemon Trainers, whom you claim do nothing but cockfight with their Pokemon for money?"

"I must admit that I was describing a certain sector of trainers..."

"If you admit that not all Trainers are bad, then why is all the information about them in our textbook censored?"

BING BONG BANG BONG

"I believe that's all the time we have for today. Please read Chapter Two on Target Clears and Field Moves from your Rangerology textbook."

Everyone gathered up their papers, books, and friend Pokemon and rushed to funnel out the door.

"Scarlet, a moment, please."

_Oh, great...I'm going to get read the riot act._

Soon the classroom emptied out, leaving me alone with Rufflet, Joltik (in backpack), and Mrs. Captia.

"Scarlet, what's bothering you? Something obviously is, because I did a little digging. You've had a spotless disciplinary record- not that you did anything wrong today- but you've never been anything but quiet and respectful. What's changing you?"

"Many things, but mainly why we're here."

"Is this a generic meaning of life question, or why you and your peers are specifically here?"

"The latter. I'm wondering why I'm here studying to become a Ranger."

"Do you not want to become one?"

"I'm sure that the leadership on this island isn't an actual cross-section of Rangers of a whole, but if becoming a Ranger ties me to one opinion about those who differ, then I want no part of being a Ranger. The idea is good, but the practice is fundamentally flawed."

"Oh...is this about the comment I made the first day I had you guys? Most Rangers don't believe that stuff about trainers. I was just trying to explain their reasoning. I guess I wasn't used to people questioning that sort of thing. I apologize if I sounded curt to you." Mrs Captia consented.

"I forgive you, but still, the logic behind that tries to hide a huge bias which has never looked at anything but the negatives of training."

"I think I understand. You want to find the truth: The truth of being a Ranger, the truth behind...Training and the true you."

"Exactly. Rangers want us to be Rangers, but some of us either want or would want to do something else if given the choice."

"Like who?"

"Vera, for example. You've seen her art. Do you believe that she's meant to become a Ranger?"

"You have the freedom to become whoever you want to be."

"Do we? Our society doesn't think so. We have no means of exploring other options. If you believe we have that freedom, tell us sometime. Help us to become the people we're meant to be, not the people other people want us to be."

"So, what do you want to be?" Mrs. Captia asked.

_Here it goes..._

_"_ I don't mean to seem untrusting, but can I trust you with my dreams and desires?"

"Of course you can; I won't allow anything said in here to leave this room."

"I think I want to be a Trainer. Despite all the censorship, the stories I've heard intrigue me. I want to be like the Trainers who form actual lifetime bonds with their Pokemon instead of appeals to their morality."

Mrs. Captia looked at the clock.

"To each his own. Well, you should probably be getting home soon."

"Yeah, I'm supposed to meet Vera after school for something."

"Well, I won't detain you any longer then. I enjoyed talking with you."

"Me too."

"If you ever want to vent again, I'm always here."

"Thanks."

I gathered my knapsack and whistled for Rufflet to follow. 


End file.
